It’s actually surprising how much room there is to change whether an outcome is good or bad just by how you view it. This may sound crazy or wooey but essentially this is just looking on the bright side, or finding a silver lining.
To illustrate this point I will use one of the issues I previously wrote about. AI art and music. Let me provide you two perspectives that are both equally true.
1- AI art is going to be able to do what I do better than me very soon. It will most likely reduce the value of my art to the point where making a living from producing it the way I currently do is impossible. It will be easier than ever for anyone to copy my ideas, style and even my voice. Many artists and people in general are going to have to face their livelihood being destroyed overnight and in turn, will strongly dislike AI and anyone who uses it.
2- I’m lucky to live in the most technologically advanced time in history. In my opinion, creating and bringing art and music into the world is one of most enjoyable activities available to humans. I now have a growing arsenal of tools to engage in that with fewer barriers, less wasted time, less skill needed and less cost. I cannot only output more art but also better quality art, The range of what I can create and imagine has exploded along with possibilities surrounding all the other aspects of being an artist.
Now, which one of these perspectives do you think will lead me down a path to better life? The answer is obvious but the question now becomes, How?
As far as I can tell, this is a habit and skill you have to build.
If you know me, you know that my ability to make masterful puns and plays on words in a split second is akin to the skill and speed of a formula 1 driver. I’ve developed this impressive and useful skill because I’ve unintentionally gotten in the habit of looking for and exploiting the double meanings and compound aspect of certain words. Just the same way that a really short chicken farmer who gets in the habit of letting chickens sneak up behind him gets his aspect a lot. Haha. In other words, I got good at this because I do it all the time, automatically.
I want/need to do this same thing with looking on the bright side.
Side note: If you want to learn about habit building, there is no better resource than the life changing and best selling book Atomic Habits. (full disclosure, the link is an affiliate link and I am indeed tryna get that bread).
Now think about it.. Every day, all kinds of things happen that you have to process and internalize. (depedning on how you look at it, that’s mainly what life is) Now, what if instead of dwelling on the negative aspects, you were to extract something positive from each of these occurrences and focus on that? Imagine the compound effect this could have over time. Imagine how many positive things you just miss out on when you don’t do this. Imagine how much you could improve your life and the life of the people around you by being an expert at flipping negatives into positives.
I think it’s worth noting that humans are wired to think negatively out of the box. This is the classic ‘tiger in the bushes’ example where, if you hear rustling in the bushes and think it’s a tiger and it turns out to just be the wind you’re fine but if you think it’s just the wind and it’s actually a tiger, you’re dinner. In the past, it was advantageous to default to negative thinking. NOT TODAY! These days we don’t have to worry about tigers. Finding a way to reverse this wiring can change your life.
You can even go one step further and, when something negative happens, consign yourself to MAKE it into something positive.
To me, this is a better way to live.
I also have to mention that it’s important to draw a distinction between “looking on the bright side” and “failing to accept reality” This type of thinking comes with a risk of slipping into a dangerous mindset. Having a healthy and accurate view of reality is super important. Being delusional and denying the truth is a surefire way to ruin your life. There is some wiggle room in this domain because life is, at it’s core, a mystery. So, to some degree, your beliefs do become your reality but there is a limit to this in my experience. I’ve seen delusion lead to negative outcomes way more than positive ones. It’s all about what parts of reality you choose to focus on. Choose the parts that serve you.
At the end of the day, I’m naturally extremely negative. I spiral and catastrophize like a bat out of hell but hey, being that way has prompted me to start this positivity journey. This will allow me to deeply appreciate the power of positive thinking and share it with others and THAT is how it’s done.
As always, I’m happy to receive feedback, advice or to just have a conversation about any of the topics! Please don’t hesitate to comment or reach out via social media.
(@danny_suede on all platforms)
I’m glad you’re here and thanks for reading <3
This is such an interesting topic! I really enjoyed reading this one, totally agree, and of course we always have to find a balance in things.